'05 Harley Demo Day

[Trapper]

Local Harley dealer is having a demo day on Monday. I think I'll go test me out a V-Rod. (or whatever they'll let me)

[NWEng]

I was thinking about trying one as well at some point. It's on my short list for my next ride.

[Hunter]

Trapper if they have the 1200 night train in, ask for it.

[JES883]

If I ever got a new HD, I'd get a cop Road King. I'd demo one of those. Or maybe one of them there Boo-ells.

[Gixxerdale]

Originally Posted by JES883

If I ever got a new HD, I'd get a cop Road King. I'd demo one of those. Or maybe one of them there Boo-ells.

Buells aren't spoken well of in the sportbike riding circles, mainly due to poor sluggish handling. But they are a different breed.

[JES883]

Originally Posted by Gixxerdale

Buells aren't spoken well of in the sportbike riding circles, mainly due to poor sluggish handling. But they are a different breed.

I hear the same. I wanna' try, not buy. That way I can tell some of the diehard UAW "individuals" around here that are anti-world (except USA) that I gave America's sportbike a chance.

[Scourge]

No offense Trapper, but I never thought I'd be jealous of a Canadian. Didn't you guys just have a Suzuki Demo Days not long ago, JEEEEZ?!?!?! When the hell are the demo days coming to the lower 48, or more succinctly when the hell are they coming to NC

[Trapper]

Yeah. Kawasaki demos should be right around the corner. I went to a Buell Demo day last September but they wouldn't let me ride because I didn't have a full face. I only have a three quarter. . I bought it before I joined this forum and these guys scared me smart. I will be getting a full face asap. Oh BTW there are a lot better things that you can be jealous of Canadians for , but we keep them a secret.

[Trapper]

I arrived at Toys For Big Boys (HD/Honda Dealer) at 8:30am. The demos were to start at 9. There was a heavy mist in the air so when the staff showed up they decided to wait to see if the weather would clear. I sat down and chatted with a salesman I know for a while and found out that as soon as they unload the bikes they (HD/Buell Canada) charge the dealership $2000. It sprinkled on and off for the next hour and a half, then they decided to unload at 10:30. Sixteen bikes in all including 3 Buells. I was second in line for registration and signed up for the V-Rod (first guy got the V-rod Street rod).

After another hour of testing air pressure, general inspection and gassing up the bikes, I was straddling a future American Classic. I really like the ergomics of this bike. Feet forward and stretched out. Bars low and not too wide, speedo, tach, and gas guage on the bars, nice, comfortable seat.

The Ride - WOW, no wonder it took them something like six years to develope this bike. Smooth shifting, good front brakes, back brakes were ok, but I didn't like the toe up position to get to the brake pedal. This bike would go in any gear and had a really nice low growl whenever you opened the throttle up. It was a very enjoyable 30 minutes.

I then went to the registration table to see if the second ride was full and they said they had a couple of bikes left so I chose the Dyna Wide Glide.

This bike was different than any thing I've been on (which hasn't been much). It had a really nice seat and the feet controls were also stretched out too, but much more upright than the V-rod. Handlebars were apehangers and I felt like Dennis Hopper on this bike. I actually broke into "Born To be Wild" when I rode this beast.

The ride - This bike had more of the Harley vibration I had heard about. For the first few hundred yards we went quite slow so that everyone got out of the parking lot together, and my feet got numb. Once we got up to speed it wasn't so bad. It was a very comfortable ride and the 1450 cc engine responded quickly to an throttle roll I gave it. I do not like the tank mounted speedo, which some, if not all of the Boulevards have. It's seems to far to look and is not what I'm used to.

In conclusion, I did love both Harleys I rode. I would like the V-rod for solo rides and the Dyna would be great for my wife and I to do some long distance.

Thanks for reading. Next up - Honda demo day June 30. I love the look of that naked 599 sportbike. It reminds me of the naked SV.

Dyna Wide Glide



V-Rod



(I think the guy I got to take the pic was drunk)

[oldgeezer]

I test rode a V-rod when they first came out and I must say they are scarry fast. However, the bike was as smooth as any I've ridden and with the hydraulic clutch, shifting is smooth. For me, it isn't a good fit as we do a lot of highway miles and the forward seating position would kill my back. The new street rods have even more HP than the original ones.

All the Dyna engines are rubber mounted and have some vibration as very low speed but they do level out at highway speed.

It is nice to be able to test ride different manufacturers bikes. I think you find that everyone makes really nice bikes these days.

[PerrydaSavage]

Hey those're the very same Bikes they Demo'd here in Mount Pearl, Nfld. on June 4-5th ... was a fun weekend!
Here's a coupla pics;

[Scourge]

Damnit! Alright here it goes mmhh..mmhh.

Oh Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The true north strong and free!

From far a wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Now will you guys send some of those Demo Days down our way?!?!?!

[Trapper]

Can you do it in french?

[inspiron]

Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux.
Ton front est ceint,
De fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras
Sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix.
Ton histoire est une épopée,
des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur,
de foi trempée,
protègera nos foyers et nos droits (bis).

(2e couplet, peu utilise)

Sous l'oeil de Dieu
Près du fleuve géant
Le canadien
Grandit en espérant
Il est neé d'une race fière
Béni fut son berceau
Le ciel a marqué sa carrière
dans ce monde nouveau.
Toujours guidé
par sa lumière
Il gardera l'honneur de son drapeau (bis).

( Just call me the Google Guru )

[Trapper]

The copy/paste queen..er..I mean king.

[Scourge]

I've already had my French corrected on here tooooo often to whip it out again.

[PerrydaSavage]

Scourge ... I'm surprised that they don't have those Harley Demo Days in the States ... they've been held every June here in Nfld. for the past several years ... I didn't Ride any myself, as they didn't have an 883L available (I'm a small guy with a bad back ... all the other models were waaay too big & heavy) ... but my Riding pals (pic'd above) spent a total of about 2 hours each Riding on 4 different Hogs over the course of the weekend ...

[tlwisner]

Originally Posted by oldgeezer

I think you find that everyone makes really nice bikes these days.

I suspect this statement is very true with all of the major manufacturers. I don't know of any brand that's perfect - but I don't know of any company churning out pure crap these days. So many great choices! Woo-Hoo!

You might consider a rally like the Honda Hoot where just about every company does demo rides.

[Trapper]

I would just like to add that self cancelling turn signals ROCK!